A Twisted Anthology: A Twisted Design Book

The Vampire's Second Chance Part 7

My friends started arriving at the restaurant a few minutes after I got there. I was so excited for the night to start. The sun was setting, but it would still be a little while before Dennis could join us.

As they got out of their husbands’ cars, they would come up and hug me. Every one of them wished me a happy birthday. Once they’d all gotten there, I led the group into the restaurant.

We were dressed up, but these people were all wearing designer clothes. I could see people eyeing us. The mayor was standing in the entry way with his wife and chatting with someone else who looked important. He looked us over and dismissed us.

Paula tugged me back. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes.” I said confidently.

Dennis wouldn’t let me be embarrassed. He promised that we’d have a table and I would be treated well. I stepped up to the podium and the maître d’ looked up with a tight lipped smile.

“May I help you?” He asked.

“Sybil Mason, party of eight.” I replied.

He looked over his list and his eyes widened before he looked back up at me. His eyes scanned over me, then went back to his list.

“Madam. I’m sorry for your wait. Please, follow me.” He replied with a polite smile.

He grabbed some menus and led us through the restaurant. My friends were floored. He pulled out a chair for me and tucked it in after me. They had to get their own chairs.

When we were seated, he handed out menus to everyone and bowed his head slightly to me.

“Your server will be out in just a few moments to take your drink orders. Master Lyons has already preordered several bottles of our finest champagne for you and your party. They’ll be delivered shortly. Is there anything I can get you or do for you?”

“No. Thank you very much.”

“I’ll be going, then. Let me know if you have any issues. I’ll have them corrected immediately.” He said with another slight bow and left.

I looked around the table with a smile. Paula was sitting right next to me with an astonished expression. Everyone was pretty surprised.

“Bill, what have you gotten into?” Betsy hissed.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I called here to see if there was a way to get a reservation after you told us where we were going. They told me I would have to wait until this time next year for a table, especially one this big. How did you do it?”

Betsy was always the one who told me my dreams were too big. She was probably a little put off by us actually getting a table instead of being turned away. I bet she even made reservations at another restaurant just so she could save the day.

In her defense, she was always the most prepared of all of us. She always had backup plans for her backup plans. I couldn’t imagine how many times she saved our asses when we were teens.

“Hi! I’m Reba, I’ll be your waitress.” A young woman in a suit shirt and apron said. “These are my assistants. We’re assigned only to your table. We’re getting you all some water and pouring your champagne. I know you haven’t had a chance to look at the menu, so we’ll just bring you out something to munch on while you look it over. Let me know if you have any questions.”

“Thank you, Reba. I’m Billie, these are my friends, Paula, Betsy, Tina, Krissy, Marcie, Annie, and Rachel. We’ll let you know when we’re ready.” I waved her off.

She seemed more than happy to help her assistants and then go off to watch our table from afar. I took a sip of the champagne. It was amazing.

“Let’s just look over our menus so poor Reba can stop stalking us.” I chuckled.

They grumbled, but did as I said. There were so many things I wanted to try. I could see my friends having the same difficulty. If this was the only time they were going to be here, I knew they wanted to try a lot.

Reba’s assistants returned with plates of appetizers that we didn’t order. It was a taste of a few different things I’d been looking at on the menu. Dennis really thought of everything. We were able to relax more and make our decisions.

While we waited, we snacked and drank our champagne. They kept giving me the eye as I kept quiet.

“God, Billie! Tell us!” Paula insisted.

“I didn’t do much. I met a man. He’s amazing and he was able to get us into the places I wanted to go.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Is he in the mob or something? They seated us before the mayor. He’s over there glaring still. We only just got here and the guy at the front acted like he’d made us wait for a long time. None of the other people in the restaurant have a team of servers. Only us.” Tina said.

As I reached out to take my glass, a cool hand took mine and I was pulled from my seat. Dennis’ arms wrapped around me and he kissed me as deep and hard as he’d promised in my dream. He was right, my body responded immediately. I could feel heat building inside me.

His hands didn’t touch me anywhere inappropriate, but my body responded as if he was touching every wonderful place at the same time. I moaned a little into his mouth and his kiss turned more vigorous.

“Umm. Billie?” Paula hissed.

I, reluctantly, pulled away from Dennis. He had a little lipstick on his mouth. I reached up to wipe it away and he tried to kiss my fingers, making me giggle.

“I rushed over as soon as I could. Have they been taking care of you, darling?” He asked.

“Yes. Very good care of me. Thank you. These are my friends.” I said and introduced him around the table.

Dennis bowed slightly to my friends. He sat in my chair and pulled me into his lap. Reba appeared out of nowhere with a glass of red wine. He nodded to her as he took it and sipped.

“So, Dennis, how did you meet Billie?” Annie asked.

“I was getting gas on her birthday and the power went out while I was inside the store. I stayed with her until the lights came back on. It was the best decision I’d ever made.”

He held me to him and I kissed his cheek. Dennis turned his head to me and I kissed his lips gently. His eyes glowed, making me blush and remember how they’d glowed while we made love in the dream.

“Wow. That sounds really sweet. Are you going to be hanging out with us tonight?” Paula asked.

“Sadly, no. I have meetings to deal with and business to attend to. My employees will make certain you all have the best possible evening. I’m sure we can figure out another time for getting to know one another. I just couldn’t resist coming to see Billie before I had to get to work.”

Dennis scooped me up as he stood, then placed me gently back onto the chair. He gave me one more kiss, before saying goodbye to me and my friends. I watched him head out toward the back of the restaurant and hand his glass off to one of the servers.

He really had given me what I wanted for my birthday. I had a boyfriend. My friends came out with me. And I was treated like I was really important for the first time in years.

The rest of the night was wonderful. All my friends gushed over how amazing Dennis seemed and how happy they were for me. I knew they could’ve focused on the negative things, especially Betsy, but they didn’t. It made the night even better.

At the end of the night, I helped load everyone into their cars before I got in the back of Paula’s car. All the husbands seemed to range from amused to annoyed at their wives’ drunken rambling. Dirk was amused.

“Seems like you girls had a fun night. Why aren’t you as drunk as the rest, Billie?” He chuckled.

“It was more fun watching them get blitzed. I wanted to keep an eye on them, too. Just so no one wandered off and got into trouble.”

“Oh, my god, Dirk. You should see her boyfriend. He’s the one who owns these places. Can you believe it? Our Billie found herself a rich sugar daddy even at her age. His clothes tonight cost more than our car!” Paula giggled.

Dirk laughed. “Don’t mind her, Billie. You know how she gets when she’s drunk.”

“It’s no problem. After a few drinks they all started saying things like that and asking me what I did to be able to net one of the richest guys in town. I didn’t even realize how much money he had.”

“You need to get knocked up so you can nail that man down, Billie.” Paula advised drunkenly.

I sighed and looked out the window. I was younger than him… by a lot. But I wasn’t exactly trophy wife material. What if he got less interested as I got older and he just stayed the same? It was the one thing that had been weighing on me since I found out he was a vampire.

A short time later, we were pulling up to my apartment. I thanked Dirk for the ride. Paula was already snoring away in the passenger’s seat. Part of me really hoped she had a hell of a hangover in the morning.

In my apartment, I got cleaned up and ready for bed. Normally, I wouldn’t want to sleep before dawn, but I really wanted to get to the dream world Dennis had created for us. The world where I could forget about real life and just be happy.

-

The next evening, I woke up feeling amazing. I was so full of energy and so well rested. Dennis had been attentive and loving the entire time we were in the dream. I’d never felt so safe when sleeping.

I ate a little and started cleaning. I didn’t make much mess, so I had decided to do my monthly deep cleaning of the kitchen a little early. I’d been so focused on my work, that I forgot to call Dennis. I nearly fell off the counter when there was a pounding knock at my door.

Quickly, I climbed down and went to answer it. Dennis was standing outside the door. He looked a little frazzled and his eyes were glowing.

“Dennis! I wasn’t expecting you.”

“You didn’t call me and you didn’t answer the phone when I called you. I didn’t know if you were alright. What have you been doing?” He asked.

“I was cleaning. I’m sorry. I lost track of time. Come in.”

Dennis reached out and pulled me into his arms. I let him hold me for a while. Why had he been so worried? It wasn’t like I was doing anything dangerous.

When he let me go, I took his hand and pulled him into my apartment. I closed the door and led him to the couch, where I sat him down and cuddled in next to him.

“I’m sorry I scared you like that. Will you please forgive me?” I whispered.

“I shouldn’t have panicked. I find myself worrying about you overly much. You’re so small and fragile. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”

“We’ve only been dating a little while, Dennis. Don’t worry so much. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

“I don’t like you working at the convenience store. It’s too far away from me. If something happened to you, I wouldn’t be there to keep you safe. Will you please consider coming to work for me? I have an opening in my event planning office. You’ve been to parties and festivals. You know what can make it entertaining for my customers. I promise there will always be a vampire guard when you have to deal with werewolves. It will be a significant pay raise with set hours.” Dennis said, kissing me on top of my head.

“And no one will be pissed that I’m sleeping with the boss?” I asked.

“If they are, I’ll deal with them. It’s my company and I have the right to occasionally make selfish hiring decisions. Please, Sybil. Come work for me. Spend every evening in the same building as me. Let me be close to you.”

It did sound like an interesting job. It couldn’t possibly be lonelier than working overnights in a convenience store. Dennis would be there.

“You know what it does to me when you say my real name…. I’d have to put in a two-week notice. I don’t want to leave my manager high and dry.”

He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight. “You’ve made me so happy, Billie. Call her now. Give her your notice. I want you to start as soon as possible.”

“You’ll have to let me move my arms first.” I giggled.

“Of course.”

Dennis let me go and I called my manager. She was sad I was giving notice, but she was excited that I was moving on to such an amazing opportunity. When I finished the call, I felt more relaxed than I had in years.

It took thirty-five years before my life finally started coming together. Before everything settled into place. I was excited to move forward and experience something new.

He stayed with me for a couple of hours before he couldn’t ignore his phone any longer. I worked hard to finish cleaning my kitchen. I could barely focus on the work, but that didn’t matter. Not really.